Romanian dictator's palace opens as museum

The so-called ''Spring Palace'' of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu opens to the public as a museum to his excesses. Diane Hodges reports.

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Some people wear gold; former Romanian president Nicolae Ceausescu used it for the plumbing in his bathroom.
The private home of the late dictator, called the Spring Palace, is now a private museum.
Visitors from around the world are lining up to see his winter garden, his artwork, and of course, his golden bathroom.
This woman lived under Ceausescu's rule, and says the gaudiness is what brought her here.
(SOUNDBITE) (Romanian) VISITOR, JENI, SAYING:
"That's why I came, to see how far boorishness can go."
Ceausescu was president of Romania from 1974 to 1989, when he was overthrown and executed on Christmas Day.
The furs, the cars and other expensive items in the home were auctioned off by the government in 1999.
Now the 80-room mansion has been turned into a museum.
The swimming pool has been drained...and stocked with a display of photos of Ceausescu and his wife, in what the country's current deputy prime minister says is an attempt for the country to confront its past, and learn from it.

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